2013 Pre-Draft Top 30 Prospects

I say this every year, but the Pre-Draft Top 30 Prospects List is (by far) my least favorite of the three prospect lists I put out every year. There are no new faces in the organization and the minor league season is only two months old. The only reasons to change the rankings are injury, trade/release, and extreme performance (good or bad). That’s it.

Now, that said, it’s pretty obvious this has been a poor year for the farm system so far. Most of the Yankees’ top prospects are either hurt or underperforming, and there haven’t been enough breakouts to compensate. There’s still plenty of talent, but not many guys are putting it to good use right now. Most of the lower level pitchers are being held to strict pitch counts as well, which I suspect comes from new pitching coordinator Gil Patterson. A lot of guys don’t have many innings under their belt yet.

Five players dropped off my Preseason Top 30 List, which is actually a lot more than I expected. They’re all self-explanatory as well: RHRP Dellin Betances (#23), OF Melky Mesa (#26), OF Ravel Santana (#28), SS Cito Culver (#29), and LHSP Daniel Camarena (#30). All five were borderline top 30 guys who barely made the preseason list, and they’ve either gotten/stayed hurt or performed miserably.

The ages and levels listed below are as of today, but the stats do not include last night’s games. On to the latest top 30…

C Gary Sanchez, 20, Hi-A: Sanchez is pretty much the only one of the team’s top position player prospects performing up to snuff this year. He’s hit .272/.338/.476 (130 wRC+) with nine homers in 213 PA, and reports about his work behind the plate continue to be positive.

RHSP Rafael DePaula, 22, Lo-A: At long last, DePaula has reached the United States. His debut has been marvelous (2.48 ERA, 2.00 FIP, 38.8 K% in 54.1 IP) and the stuff has proven to be dynamite.

OF Slade Heathcott, 22, AA: Heathcott has stayed healthy so far — only 30 games away from tying his career-high — and after a rough start, he has picked it up of late even though his season batting line (.246/.300/.377, 83 wRC+ in 201 PA) still stinks.

OF Tyler Austin, 21, AA: After being the best statistical performer in the system last year, Austin got off to a dreadful start before hitting his stride last month. He’s hitting .258/.359/.399 (111 wRC+) in 234 PA.

OF Mason Williams, 21, A+: Has there been a more disappointing prospect this year? Not only is he hitting .231/.326/.317 (88 wRC+) while repeating a level, but reports suggest he’s dogged it and played with little energy. The tools are great and that saves him for now.

RHSP Jose Ramirez, 23, AA: Ramirez started the year on the DL due to fatigue, but he debuted in April and has been electric (2.65 ERA, 3.82 FIP, 30.8 K% in 37.1 IP). Concerns about his durability remain, however.

C J.R. Murphy, 22, AA: No prospect has improved his stock more this year. Murphy’s defense continues to improve and he’s having a career-best year offensively (.275/.362/.431, 119 wRC+ in 186 PA).

OF Ramon Flores, 21, AA: I love him and he is young for the level, but .243/.328/.329 (84 wRC+) in 257 PA is really disappointing.

LHSP Manny Banuelos, 22, no level: Banuelos had Tommy John surgery in October and will miss the entire season. He’s here on reputation, basically.

RHSP Jose Campos, 20, A-: The Yankees have held Campos to a very strict pitch count following last year’s injury, but he hasn’t been quite as electric or effective (4.21 ERA and 3.42 FIP in 36.1 IP) as he has been in the past.

2B Angelo Gumbs, 20, A+: Gumbs was terrible before missing a month with a finger injury, but he’s been better of late despite a .211/.261/.327 (64 wRC+) overall line 119 PA. He’s still so young.

LHSP Nik Turley, 23, AA: Had a very rough start to the year but has settled down of late and been his usually effective self (4.14 ERA and 4.03 FIP in 54.1 IP). He’s still at least a year away from the show.

RHRP Mark Montgomery, 22, AAA: The Yankees were reportedly unhappy with his offseason work and the results have been below his usual standard so far (3.10 ERA, 4.20 FIP, 26.7 K% in 29 IP). He might have been in the bigs by now had he gotten off to a better start.

RHSP Corey Black, 21, A+: His huge arm is likely destined for the bullpen long-term, but Black has been pleasantly surprising as a starter so far this year (4.22 ERA, 2.66 FIP, 26.0 K% in 53.1 IP).

RHSP Bryan Mitchell, 22, A+: The performance (4.50 ERA and 3.53 FIP in 66 IP) never seems to improve, but Mitchell remains on the list because his stuff is arguably the best in the system.

C Austin Romine, 24, MLB: Instead of getting much-needed regular at-bats in the minors, Romine is masquerading as the big league backup and failing (122 wRC+ in Triple-A, -4 wRC+ in MLB).

RHRP Adam Warren, 25, MLB: Warren has found a niche as a long reliever with the big league team (3.77 ERA and 4.11 FIP in 28.2 IP) rather than spending a third straight year in Triple-A.

SS Austin Aune, 19, ExST: Aune and his big left-handed power will likely join Short Season Staten Island when the season starts in a few weeks.

LHSP Vidal Nuno, 25, AAA: He’s bounced between Triple-A and the big leagues all year and been effective in whatever role the team has used him. The ranking is almost entirely probability-based, but I can’t ignore him anymore.

IF David Adams, 26, MLB: From released to re-signed to Triple-A to the Bronx in the matter of a few weeks, Adams has already managed to carve out a big league role despite his recent slump (.242/.266/.387, 73 wRC+ in 64 PA).

2B Corban Joseph, 24, AAA: CoJo made his big league debut a few weeks ago, but otherwise he remains nothing more than a backup plan in the minors (.239/.329/.383, 94 wRC+ in 213 PA).

RHSP Brett Marshall, 23, AAA: He made his big league debut with a long relief appearance last month, but otherwise Marshall has been just awful this year (7.27 ERA and 6.59 FIP in 43.1 IP). At least there’s nowhere to go but up.

RHRP Nick Goody, 21, A+: Managed three whole innings before blowing out his elbow and requiring Tommy John surgery. We won’t see him again until 2014.

RHSP Gabe Encinas, 21, A-: Encinas was having a breakout year (0.77 ERA and 2.89 FIP in 35 IP) before hurting his elbow and having season-ending surgery. Three pitchers who are out for the year due to injury on the list is probably too many. So it goes.

RHRP Preston Claiborne, 25, MLB: Got the call to the show in place of Montgomery and has quickly become a valuable reliever for Joe Girardi (0.55 ERA and 2.27 FIP in 16.1 IP).

LHSP Matt Tracy, 24, AA: Has alternated awesome starts with awful starts so far, so hopefully he settles into a groove as the season progresses (5.09 ERA and 4.67 FIP in 53 IP).

RHRP Chase Whitley, 23, AAA: An oblique strain delayed the start of Whitley’s season and he is still trying to find his way (5.06 ERA and 3.86 FIP in 10.2 IP). He might have been up instead of Claiborne had he been healthy.

3B Dante Bichette Jr.: Following a dreadful start, Bichette had a one-day pow-wow with the hitting coach to clean up some mechanics and the early returns have been positive. His overall season line remains very underwhelming (.229/.294/.328, 76 wRC+ in 221 PA).

OF Zoilo Almonte, 23, AAA: Got off to a fantastic start, but he’s returned to Earth a bit in recent weeks (.282/.366/.432, 118 wRC+ in 238 PA). Still doesn’t do much other than hit the ball out of the park on occasion.

If ever there was a year to have a strong draft…it’s this year. We desperately need to re-stock our farm with talent. Sure, there are some talented guys in our farm system, but they all seem to be, I don’t know…content with where they are, if that makes sense. It seems that it’s very rare for a young guy to have a good season and follow up with another good season. We have no consistency and a lot of the guys with “potential” are playing just awful. I’ve been a supporter of Oppenheimer, but it just seems like so many picks lately have been “high risk/low reward” types. Heathcott, Culver, Bitchette, Hensley, etc. We really need a home run in this draft. We’ll have 3 1st rounders…we NEED to re-stock with some studs.

TCMiller30

I don’t know how Heathcott gets lumped into high risk low reward group.

Cool Lester Smooth

Or Ty Hensley, who the Rockies considered with their 10th pick and was universally regarded as a steal where we got him.

wsa

Totally agree that Heathcott and Hensley do not belong in that group. Their inclusion is probably strictly due to injuries that occured after they were drafted. Huge upside for both when they were picked and it remains that way. Culver also had huge upside at the time he was picked as a switch hitting true SS. The hit tool needed to come around and it just has not. Bichette didn’t have huge upside but he was also picked in the 50s. He really wasn’t that much of a reach. Two rankings differing 50 spots on one prospect happens and he was something like #102 in BaseballAmerica’s rankings. Only 10 spots behind where Olt had been a year earlier. It is always fun to watch the same fan bash the Yankees for passing on Olt in the 30s on year and then for taking Bichette in the 50 the next. Pure Monday morning QBing.

At the same time I do not think it is correct that Hensley was regarded as a steal for the Yankees outside of among Yankees fans. A good strong pick yes. He was not a consensus top 10 or even 15 guy though from what I remember. I think Yankees fans just sort of grabbed onto the Colorado rumors to turn him into a consensus top 10 prospect after the draft.

Cool Lester Smooth

Callis and Goldstein both said it was a steal.

http://Riveraveblues.com Matthew Warden

Not sure I agree with the “players are content where they are” narrative. I have to believe these kids all desperately want to reach the show — both for personal and financial reasons. What it comes down too is most prospects (even very good ones) don’t pan out. And generally speaking, due to the Yankees overall success, they’re not getting those top 5-10 prospects in a draft who are more likely to succeed at each level.

pat

High risk, low reward? I don’t think you know hot to play this game.

Richard Leo

not very promising

http://www.twitter.com/matt__harris Matt :: Sec110

Romine really blew his big chance here. I think he’s better off going back down to 3A and getting everyday work in there. Question is, who back Stewart up? I guess you could plug some random scrap heap 4A type catcher in once a week.

MannyGeee

I don’t see how Romine blew anything here. He (by all reports) was asked to come up and concentrate on his work behind the plate, which would at least insinuate that he is not spending any time with Kevin Long – by design, not by choice- working on his stroke. The kid hit well in AAA, there’s nothing to say he’s not able to hit in the majors.

Bill

Even in the minors Romine’s numbers primarily came against left handed pitching. He can’t hit RHP. Given that about 95% of catchers are right handed catchers that can hit LHP are pretty common.

I don’t like his chances to start in the majors. He could be a solid backup, but I don’t think he’ll ever hit well enough to start.

If I’m Girardi I try to go full platoon with Stewart and Romine. Stewart has pretty even splits. Give Romine the starts against LHP and see if he can get going and gain some confidence.

your mom

The farm has definitely lost a lot of its luster(and it ain’t all from injuries).

KeithK

What’s your criteria for keeping a guy on the prospect list who is playing at the big league level? When do they come off? I get a guy like Romine, who will certainly go back as soon as Cervelli gets healthy. But for a guy like Warren or Claiborne who seem to have a stable role at the MLB level when do they come off the list.

Not that it’s important. I’m just curious.

http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike Axisa

The rookie criteria is 130 AB or 50 IP according to MLB, so I stick with that. Easy enough.

KeithK

OK, that makes sense. For some reason I put “prospect” and “rookie” into different buckets mentally.

viridiana

The farm has also produced Phelps, Warren, Claiborne, Adams and Nuno — all of whom have performed way beyond expectation. To me, the story isn’t the underperformance of some of the highly touted, but the excellent performance from the under-touted.

mitch

No doubt those guys have been impressive, but they’re somewhere in the 15-25 range on an MLB roster. They’re great to have, but very replaceable with free agents. They really need a great player or two to come up one of these years.

viridiana

Well, let’s see how good they are before we say they’re “replaceable” by free agents. The question is: at what price. Phelps, for example, is already pitching like a pretty solid #4. Free agents of that quality are not cheap — and they probably come with more age risk. So signing a replacement measurably reduces the budget for other players. I think we can assume Yankee budget no longer limitless.
But I agree that they do need to produce a couple of real game changers too.

FEED.ME.MORE!

This.

I look at the “replacement” costs of a Phelps as paying Freddy Garcia 4 million a year to give me the same production as a guy getting the minimum.

You pay 30+ year olds 2-3 million to do what a Claiborne or Warren do for 500K.

If anything, the development of the “fringe” prospects saves a team anywhere from 5-15 million a season. You avoid paying older veterans and dealing with organizational adjustment periods, injuries and such. Plus your fans like homegrown players. Plus plus, the players in your system see a path to getting to the big leagues, even if they aren’t Top 100 prospects.

MannyGeee

They’re not all going to be Mike Trout. You have to in fact “produce” mid roster guys as well as All Stars. Give me a Nuno and Phelps at rookie money over Jason Marquis at $3M any day, thanks.

KeithK

That’s totally true. But keep in mind that the biggest reason that the Yankees were so good in the mid 90’s to early 2000’s was the star quality players that they developed form the farm system, which provided the foundation for the team. Trying to get that level of talent from the free agent market is a crap shoot (e.g. the Angels) and simply difficult given the financial environment in the game today (teams can afford to sign their stars). We don’t need every prospect to turn into stars but we need a couple of them to do so.

MannyGeee

Two differences: Can’t loop Derek Jeter into that conversation (not that you did, but he’s the shining example…) because he was a #1 pick. That’s Trout territory, in case anyone forgot.

Also, Mo & Bernie were IFAs and Jorge was the exception, not the rule. Sure, in the 24th round… different rules today that knock down the chances of getting two future HoFers in 2013…

This build a farm thing is not as easy as it seems. 1 of the 4 guys above land in NYs lap today based on today’s rules unless they tank the season or kidnap a young Panamanian boy.

KeithK

I definitely agree that it’s very difficult to develop top level talent through the farm without having a lot of top picks where the probability of success is greater. I just don’t think it’s very likely we’ll maintain the level of success that Yankee fans have grown accustomed to without somehow managing to develop at least an occasional All Star level talent.

mitch

I think my comment is being misinterpreted. Those guys are very valuable to have. In no way would I swap them for free agent counterparts. Cost-controlled contributors are obviously important.

My point is that it’s possible to acquire guys of equal skill. Great players rarely hit the market these days. The Yankees need to develop a couple of those guys because getting them otherwise is going to be very difficult.

Pat D

What else can you say about Cito Culver except…at least…he’s not from Canada.

Phil

I feel like Nuno is getting underrated here. He’s been very successful in his short time in the majors. The odds are against most of the guys ranked ahead of him ever having that success. He is already 25, but age doesn’t seem to hurt Depaula’s ranking

LK

Nuno has a 4.05 K/9 and a 34.8 GB%. He’s had some solid spot starts, but nothing about his 20 MLB IP should change what we think too much.

emac2

It shouldn’t but for some reason people cherry pick reasons why he shouldn’t be able to do what he keeps doing.

I wouldn’t start Hughes over Nuno at Yankee stadium.

LK

I’m sorry, but I don’t even know what this is supposed to mean. People “cherry pick reasons why he shouldn’t be able to do what he keeps doing?” What are the reasons he SHOULD be able to do what he keeps doing?

He turns 26 years old next month and has 20 IP at the MLB level. He has a 5.43 xFIP, a 4.59 tRA, and a 5.30 SIERA. His fastball averages less than 89 MPH. If he were on a team in the NL, probably none of us would know his name.

Can he be an OK spot starter/long man? Yeah, maybe. But he’s 26 and has never thrown 140 innings in a single season before. He’s not a big league starter.

emac2

You don’t know what it’s supposed to mean?

Really?

It means if someone dominates every chance they get at every level they should be assumed to be capable instead of pulling a few random numbers out of your rear and pretending your a scout and know that these numbers mean that the guy will eventually be terrible.

Results don’t mean everything but the way baseball fans try to dismiss results because their method of prediction is somehow better than reality is bizarre. Players can be exceptional without having to fit statistical models put out by people who have no business doing so.

viridiana

But what if he’s Jamie Moyer redux?

trr

Going forward, he’ll get his chances, but based on everything we know and have seen about him he seems destined to be a long man or LOOGY; not that there’s anything wrong with that as long as you do it well. But we’ll see…

LK

Jamie Moyer’s strikeout rate was higher than Nuno’s current one in every single one of his seasons (yeah, even when he was 48 years old). His GB% was higher than Nuno’s current one in every season for which we have the data. When Moyer was Nuno’s age he had a 200 IP season in the bigs already.

fat_ambulance_driver

Musty not even in the top 30?

http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike Axisa

He’s 28, can’t play defense. Not all that different than Mitch Jones or Shelley Duncan.

In SWPL Hell AKA Yankee Space Parader

He also appears to have far fewer holes in his swing than those guys. He also is more athletic and can at least fake a few different positions.

And yes, he is 28, but he started his minor league career here at what, 26? His chronological age is not exactly a good barometer of his innate talent, whatever that may be.

I’m willing to bet that there are not 30 guys ahead of him currently in the system who are likely to make more of a ML contribution, at any age.

Seriously, you are awfully selective in a self-serving way when it comes to your analysis, whether right or wrong. Maybe you should look into that.

http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike Axisa

He also has a fraction of their power and doesn’t walk. Being able to suck defensively at more positions isn’t exactly a valuable trait either.

Kosmo

career milb OBP of .370 and a .320 BA. I´d take that any day of the week.

http://www.riveraveblues.com Mike Axisa

Go look at what Andy Phillips did in AAA when he was Ronnie’s age.

fat_ambulance_driver

Andy Phillips played 259 games in the majors, Shelly Duncan 330. Ok, they weren’t all stars, but we shouldn’t disparage Mustelier by comparing him to those guys. If he ends up playing a couple of years for the Yanks or someone else, that’s pretty good. Besides, would anyone bet on Ramon Flores or Corban Joseph playing 300 games in the majors? I wouldn’t.

Travis L.

Ok…not that they are prospects, but these three guys have pitched out of their minds in Charleston/Tampa: Dietrich Enns, Charlie Short and Alex Smith. I actually thought Mike would put Enns near the bottom of the list (and keep the injured guys off, but I don’t know the rules, which is why I don’t make the list).

Buddy

Man… if this is a top first third farm system, god help those teams in the bottom third.

Vern Sneaker

It’s only the first week of June so too early to conclude that the promising prospects who aren’t performing all that well are toast. To me the current group actually seems somewhat stronger than in many previous years — seems to me there are a couple of highly probable major leaguers (Sanchez, Heathcott, DePaula if he doesn’t get hurt), which is all you can hope for since nearly all wash out eventually from any prospect list. And there are probably some who will surprise — witness Nuno and Claiborne, for example.

mt

Not great from pitching side – five of these pitchers – almost 20% of the whole list – just having had or still recovering from surgery – Banuelos, Goody, Encinas, Hensley, Campos – and 2 close to big leagues (Marshall and Montgomery) showing ineffectiveness relative to expectations.

We really need the pitchers who are already Major league seasoned (Nova/Nunos/Warrens/Phelps/Pineda) to step up and continue to improve since the tier right below that has had these setbacks.

MannyGeee

…and 2 close to big leagues (Marshall and Montgomery)…

Montgomery was only “close to big leagues” by people in these here comments threads. Many people, Mike included, said he needed to log some effective AAA innings – super strong spring not withstanding – before we could christen him a savior.

wsa

There are still Ramirez, DePaula, Mitchell, and Turley in that tier (Betances as well plus Cabral maybe). Also Claiborne among the MLB guys. Pineda is somewhere in there as well. Just need a few of these guys to work out. And sometimes it’s not the guys you expect. While they have not produced the stars we all hoped for since rededicating themselves to development the Yankees have succeeded in creating strong depth. Not as sexy as developing stars but also very important.

Have to hope that for a couple of those guys the setbacks are just bumps in the road. If they hit on even one starter and one reliever from the setback group that could be huge.

Greg

if we could trade for any young hitter (Hayward, Stanton, etc.), I’d give up all 30 of these guys.

entonces

Yeah, and good luck to you fielding the rest of a team that can win 80 games. And that’s even assuming your one “superstar” stays healthy.

Chip

Isn’t AA Trenton just death on power hitters? I know there was a study that showed that hitters in that league had their power completely surpressed

Matt

Hey Mike,

Was just wondering where you heard about the adjustment thing with DBJ. It’s very interesting because I was wondering if he changed things myself.

Mike HC

Appreciate the update on all our top prospects. Good read. Doesn’t seem to be going that well, but getting off to a slow couple of months probably doesn’t mean all that much considering they are almost all in AA or lower.

Casey Hust

I, too, was wondering about Dietrich Enns. Was he close to making the list? Is he a legitimate prospect? Or is he too low in the system? He is at the same level as DePaula. Does he not have good stuff?

CS Yankee

Good to see the update, would be great if we could see (…) their prior ranking to compare though.

BeanTooth

There is a search function on the site where you can pull up all that good stuff.

nsalem

Enns has struck out 42% of the batters he has faced this yea and hasn’t given up a HR in the 78 innings he has pitched since he entered pro ball. Plus he’s a lefty. Just wondering why he hasn’t gotten any notice.

emac2

There have been disappointments but I’m pretty happy with developments this year overall.

Adams and Nuno showing they can play in the majors would get them a much higher grade from me. I would much rather have either than Warren for example. I would be starting to consider both at about 10. Just making it to the majors is something half these guys will never do.

Brian S.

What an awful year for the farm. It’s so disappointing to see so many promising players fall flat on their face.

Frank

How I wish the Yanks would have signed Yasiel Puig. This guy looks likes the second coming of Bo Jackson.

MannyGeee

Come down Beavis. Its been EIGHTEEN INNINGS.

You know who else had a really strong first week in the show? Shelly Duncan…

Greg

would you trade any 4 prospects for Puig?

Cool Lester Smooth

Shane Spencer!

ChrisS

Most halfway decent pitching prospects can fake a few innings in the majors – especially experienced college guys. Innings out of the bullpen are even less telling because of the variability in small sample sizes.

The positional prospects are stumbling and that’s disappointing because if they step up this season they’ve got a better shot at being fast tracked to the MLs due to injuries and age.

Nathan

What is it that separates teams that have successful farm systems and homegrown stars like the (Rays, Giants, Rangers, etc) and the Yankees? Is it drafting later, drafting philosophy or scouting?

MannyGeee

Its called “sucking really bad for a couple of seasons and getting those high draft picks”… Tampa has had its share of flame outs as well, but when you draft in the top 10 for a decade, good things are bound to happen.

And out of that they got 2 absolute stars(price/longo), a solid pitcher(niemann), 2 meh outfielders(bj and delmon), 2 busts(baldelli and brazelton, although baldelli might get a pass), and one star who never played for them.

Whoop dee doo.

wsa

Don’t understand your point here. That is a major chunk of their organization over their recent successful run the past half decade.

Price and Longoria have been a huge part of their success.

Upton was not a meh OF for the Rays. He was a strong cost controlled CF. He has stunk in Atlanta but was very valuable to the Rays.

Delmon Young was not a meh OF for the Rays but for the Twins. He was a trade chip for the Rays. He got them Garza and Bartlett. Garza for them Archer and Lee who are two of their best prospects right now. Plus some marginal contributors. Surely that was a great move for them but it would not have been possible without the #1 overall pick to take a guy with Delmon’s perceived potential.

wsa

The Yankees have had a pretty successful system. Judging based on stars produced is pretty flawed. Especially if you are not controlling for draft position, trades, or any other factors. They have not been ridiculously successful in recent years by any means. They have been pretty good though.

Draft position is a big factor. Take out top 10 picks and the Giants have developed Cain and Sandoval and not much else. Posey, Bumgarner, and Lincecum were top 10 picks. The Rays do have a very strong system. Still several of the established MLB stars they developed were very high picks. Not so sure the Rangers system is all that great or has developed many stars.

Trades are a big factor as well. For years the rules incentived the Yankees to trade prospects for veterans. Guys like AJax and IPK were guys the Yankees drafted and developed. Going back further there are more guys. The Rays, on the other hand, have been on the reverse end of that. Several of their top prospects at this point came to them in trades, and are not guys they brought in as amateurs: Myers, Archer, Odorizzi, Lee. 40% of their top 10. Same thing for a guy like Andrus for the Rangers.

Finally there is plain luck. About 20% of picks around #30 make any real MLB impact at all. The odds go down later in the draft or if you’re looking for real difference makers. One guy working out or not working out can make all the difference between a system that is considered to have been good or bad.

wsa

Press coverage is another factor. The Yankees tend to be held to a higher standard than other teams. If their farm is not at the top of baseball it is viewed as a failure. Therefore the press is negative. On the other hand a system that has produced a couple of good players recently or has a couple of the top prospects in baseball can sometimes be overrated. The reflection from the successes blinds the media and fans into thinking that all that team’s prospects are shiny.

Who cares about these hyped up Yankee prospects Yankees should have gone after international players before the new CBA. Puig, Ces, Yu, Chap. Instead the Yankees are infused with replacement players and guys nearing the end of their career. Oh what the Yankees have become.

MannyGeee

In an alternate universe, the Yankees sign all those guys and you’d be pissed because all teh kidz can’t play.

Puig is the flavor of the month, but keep in mind that if Dodger management knew how to run a baseball team Puig would still be playing 11AM games in Rancho Cucamonga and no one would care. Lets give the reincarnation of Ted Williams more than 18 innings before we crown him please? KTHX

Brian S.

If the Yankees ha signed those guys we wouldn’t be complaining about the kids not being able to play because they are kids. You don’t have to defend the organization at all costs; they really fucked up not signing one or two of these players. Darvish especially.

wsa

This coming from the same guy who cheerleads for every somewhat successful org player to become an MLB starter? And the guy who seems to call every year on the farm awful?

Deciding who a team missed on in hindsight is easy. How about letting us know exactly who they should be picking before the fact?

Bill

I agree the Yankees definitely didn’t take full advantage here. Cashman has been gun shy internationally ever since Kei Igawa. Sure that was a terrible signing, but the lesson was pretty clear don’t offer lots of money to mediocre talent. Instead Cashman has taken that to the extreme of not offering decent money to good international talent.

Cool Lester Smooth

Oh, you mean like when he gave Gary Sanchez the third highest bonus of all time for an IFA?

wsa

Good list overall. Strong depth and plenty of potential.

Can’t agree with Slade that high. His health is still a major question mark. Ironically I would have Manny higher than that. He had a common procedure from which the historical recovery rate is quite high.

yankeepankee

Pathetic.
Unlimited resources to hire the best scouts, coaches, trainers.
And before the MLB slotting penalties and caps, had unlimited resources to sign international free agents.
Via Cashman and Co., we get draft flops, injuries, regressing players all over.
Meanwhile, the Rangers, Cardinals, etc..teams always in the playoff hunt are stocked with good to great prospects, some helping the big clubs now.
Pathetic. Embarrassing.

Zack D

Rangers missed the playoffs in 10 straight years before their 3 year run. Yankees have made the playoffs 17 out of the last 18 years.

Pathetic. Embarrassing.

Guns

That’s the past. I wouldn’t go comparing the Rangers organization to the Yankees right now. The Yankees farm system has been and continues to be underwhelming. That’s just the way it is.

Robinson Tilapia

Then go root for the Rangers. I’ll take this org 100 times out of 100 over any in pro sports.

Zack D

I’d compare the Yankees to any organization. They’re a top 5 organization overall and have been so for the last 2 decades.

Robinson Tilapia

Live from vacation.

Bunch of whiners on here. The system certainly doesn’t deserve straight A’s, or anything of that sort, but I do like seeing how my prospects deal with some adversity and am certainly not going to knock them for facing it. It’s how we learn in every facet of life.

Bernie Willians repeated a level. Of course, half of fans don’t know that because that wealth of info wasn’t available to them at the time. Sometimes, perceived disappointment on fans’ part is the result of too much damn Information and not knowing what to do with it.

Couldn’t agree more RT, it hasn’t been the best season but injuries and adversity happen in every system, every season. There are a ton of positives from this season. Click on my name to see an article which highlights many of those positives rather than dwelling on some of the bad things that have happened this season. It all balances out and this is why depth is by far the most important thing for any farm system.

Perry

Serious question for everyone. What, in your mind, would Carmen Angelini need to do the rest of this season to be considered one of the top 30 prospects? Is it even realistically possible? I’d say if he gets called up to AA and hits around .300 for an extended period of time, and slugs over .400, he might deserve it.

yankeepankee

More reasons Cashman and his staff are lacking.
Why not hire a Dr. James Andrews MD associate to guide the farm arms?
So much surgery and failed arms.

And more Neanderthal thinking.
Kuroda has a great splitter, great strikeout pitch, even in cases his velocity is down.
You’d think the Yanks would have their pitchers in need of a put-away pitch (Hughes, Phelps, Warren..) learn the splitter.
Even David Cone, employed by the Yanks, praises the pitch and had a great one. He can teach them. But no. Bad job by Yanks and Cashman.

Cool Lester Smooth

Jesus.

slowleftarm

This is not a good farm system at the moment. Let’s hope this year’s draft will result in some better prospects. Meanwhile young pitchers barely throw any innings, then get injured and require surgery anyway.

Horace Clarke

Please refresh my memory — what happened to Ravel Santana?

aluis

Two points: Where is that kid Bird that was a catcher and is now a first baseman? I heard he can mash. And two, who is in charge of the Cardinals Scouting and Player development? They always seems to be doing a good job here and it was not like they were getting rewarded with high picks due to finshing last or something. If I were the Yankees I would give them a ton of cash and get rid off Oppenhiemer as quickly as possible.

forensic

Three pitchers who are out for the year due to injury on the list is probably too many. So it goes.

Not that it matters at this point, but it’s actually four pitchers, not three. Banuelos, Hensley, Goody, and Encinas.